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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28325367">make my wish come true</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/stray_dog_sick/pseuds/stray_dog_sick'>stray_dog_sick</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Ableist Language, Agoraphobia, Aromantic Character, Christmas Dinner, Elijah Kamski &amp; Gavin Reed are Cousins, Elijah Kamski's Parents are Assholes, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Gavin Reed Not Being an Asshole, Good Elijah Kamski, Hank Anderson and Connor are Family, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Platonic Kissing, briefly</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:29:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,756</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28325367</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/stray_dog_sick/pseuds/stray_dog_sick</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Connor! Come to Christmas dinner as my boyfriend.”</p><p>Connor could physically feel some of his programmes crashing as he tried to process the words. He had plans, and they didn't involve anti-android strangers or enduring North's teasing. But his programming couldn’t find a way to let Elijah down lightly, because despite all of that he was also too much of a people-pleaser, as Hank would say.</p><p>“We’re not dating,” is what he eventually blurted out.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Connor &amp; Gavin Reed, Connor/Elijah Kamski, Elijah Kamski &amp; Gavin Reed, Hank Anderson &amp; Connor, Original Chloe | RT600 &amp; Connor, Original Chloe | RT600/North</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Android Whump Holiday Gift Exchange 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>make my wish come true</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Florian_Gray/gifts">Florian_Gray</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>merry christmas folks :)</p><p>this one is a gift for the wonderful <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Florian_Gray/pseuds/Florian_Gray">florian</a> and it's part of the gift exchange over at the <a href="https://discord.gg/xd8qVKx">android whump</a> server. i love all you guys, i hope your days have been nice!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Christmas is the worst time of year,” Elijah mumbled. He stared up at the ceiling as Connor gently threaded his fingers through the man’s hair, unravelling knots almost as fast as he was creating them. “Connor, tell Chloe that Christmas sucks.”</p><p>“Hank and I don’t really do anything for it,” Connor said, which wasn’t really an answer, but Elijah seemed to take it as a victory anyway. He snuggled further into the android’s lap, and Connor switched to gently scratching his head, until he was sure Elijah would be purring if he was capable of it.</p><p>Chloe rolled her eyes, and Connor couldn’t tell if it was because of his answer or at the two of them in general. “Christmas is wonderful, you’re both just lonely. Elijah spends it alone or fighting with his parents, and Connor lives with the Grinch.”</p><p>“Hank is not the Grinch!” Connor protested, while Elijah said some far more colourful things about his own family. Sure, maybe Hank hadn’t been in the festive spirit for a long time, but that was understandable. They still got each other small gifts, and Connor was allowed to make a nicer dinner than usual. It was fine.</p><p>...But sometimes he saw the photos that his friends posted on social media, like Chris helping Damian to decorate the tree or Markus leading the Jericho androids in carols. Sometimes he wanted a Christmas like that. Or, at the very least, one that wasn’t spent drinking beer and watching action films.</p><p>“Not the point,” Chloe said, interrupting Elijah’s rant about how his parents just ‘didn’t understand’, as if he was still in his teenage emo phase. “The point is that I want a nice Christmas family dinner this year, Elijah. Your cousin even managed to swap his shifts and get the day off.”</p><p>Elijah sighed as he sat up, and Connor laughed at the half-formed braids littering the man’s hair. It was worse than his usual three-day-programming-bender hair. It earned him a glare, but the photograph he took first was worth it. “Well, at least it’ll be slightly more bearable with him there. But I’m still not happy about it,” Elijah grumbled.</p><p>“<em>And</em>,” Chloe continued, and Connor didn’t know someone could raise their eyebrow intensely, but somehow she managed it. “I’m bringing North.”</p><p>The room fell into silence, and Connor looked back and forth between the two as if he was watching a tennis match. Well, he was fairly certain that metaphor applied to the situation. Hank hated tennis, so he’d never watched a game before. Either way, he didn’t fully understand whatever was going on here, but clearly Chloe bringing her girlfriend to dinner was a Big Deal, capital letters included.</p><p>“You’ve made my night interesting,” Elijah said finally, breaking out into a grin. “Chloe, you are brilliant! North is going to start so many fights!”</p><p>“Is that a good thing?” Connor asked quietly, while Chloe rolled her eyes again. Surely Elijah shouldn’t want to argue with his family. Again, Connor wasn’t an expert, but he thought good Christmases were happy for everyone involved.</p><p>“Yes, it is a good thing! My parents hate Free androids, and they’re homophobic, so it’s a two-in-one deal!” Elijah exclaimed, still grinning like a mad man. “I’m so sick of just sitting here and smiling while they tell me I’m a failure, as if I’m not still the richest unemployed person in the world. I need some drama in my life!”</p><p>“That’s not why-” Chloe sighed as she cut herself off, knowing that any explanation wouldn’t cut through Elijah’s excitement. They’d both tried to calm the man down far too many times, and it never worked. “Please don’t start any physical fights.”</p><p>Elijah was on his feet now, looking around for wherever he’d left his phone last. Connor sent it a text message so that it would ring from the shelf above the fireplace. “No promises! Oh, this is going to be amazing.”</p><p>And then Chloe and Connor were back to awkward small talk, while Elijah paced, typing away on his phone. He was acting like he’d just had some technological breakthrough, which was bizarre, because it was just Christmas dinner. They were both watching him from their peripheral vision, waiting for-</p><p>“Connor!” Elijah yelled, far too loud for the space. He caught himself with a strange expression and a hand on his throat, then repeated Connor’s name again at a normal volume. “Come to Christmas dinner as my boyfriend.”</p><p>Connor could physically feel some of his programmes crashing as he tried to process the words. Firstly, he was <em> busy </em> on Christmas, thank you very much. He didn’t particularly want to be in such a tense environment with four strangers, as well as North, who would undoubtedly tease him the entire evening. Plus, there was the anti-android thing, and he was somehow the face of anti-android arguments because he might’ve killed a couple people once who were trying to kill him, and he was still allowed a gun. But his programming couldn’t find a way to let the man down lightly, because despite all of that he was also too much of a people-pleaser, as Hank would say.</p><p>“We’re not dating,” is what he eventually blurted out. </p><p>Elijah threw his hands up like he did every time Connor was being obtuse, which was interesting, because Connor was fairly confident about the status of his own love life. “No, we just pretend, to piss my family off. It’ll be fun!”</p><p>It didn’t sound fun. “It sounds like I’ll be insulted for the whole night. And I need to be with Hank anyway.”</p><p>“They’re not as bad as Elijah makes it sound, I promise. They’ll probably say nothing at all, and I know you can handle some nasty looks, Officer,” Chloe reassured, a teasing lilt to her voice. “And it’s on the 23rd, not Christmas Day. Please?”</p><p>He was not getting out of this. He <em> knew </em>the pair of them, absolute menaces that they were, wouldn’t let him say no. Chloe had probably already messaged North as well, and Connor was actually a little scared of her, because she was the only person he knew that wouldn’t hesitate to (try to) fight him. And… he did kinda like acting and playing tricks, sometimes. Tina dared him to get $20 from a stranger at the bar once, and he walked away with the man’s whole wallet for five brilliant minutes.</p><p>“Only because Chloe asked nicely,” he said eventually. </p><p>Elijah finally stopped his pacing, this time sitting in Connor’s lap rather than on the couch. This was nothing new, and one day Connor was sure he’d end up merging with the cushions, but unfortunately he was too heavy to return the favour. They tried. The bruises on Elijah’s legs the next day weren’t worth it.</p><p>“This is gonna be the best Christmas ever!” Elijah exclaimed, but Connor ignored it. He had some planning to do. Because if he was going to act as Elijah’s boyfriend, then he was damn well going to make sure it was believable.</p><p>---</p><p>In the end, he didn’t tell Hank where he was spending the afternoon. It would’ve been far too difficult to explain what he was doing and why he was doing it - Hank still grumbled every time Connor said he was staying over at Elijah’s, even though there hadn’t been any guns involved since their first meeting. He knew Hank was just worried about him, though, so he shrugged it off each time, and kept a few of the shorter visits to himself.</p><p>In the grand scheme of things, having an overprotective father figure certainly wasn’t the worst thing in the world.</p><p>The dress code for dinner was smart casual, so he borrowed one of Hank’s least obnoxious shirts to wear with his work trousers. It was dark green with a faint paisley design, and he left the top two buttons undone for once, with the front tucked in and the rest hanging loose. It was very loose on him, but he sent Tina a picture and she said he pulled it off well. His own wardrobe had a now-obvious gap between ‘casual’ and ‘work’ that he’d have to fix after the holiday season, so this would have to do.</p><p>The most important part of the outfit, of course, was his LED. But that was there all the time, so it didn’t really count. He made it artificially spin green though, so that it didn’t clash with his shirt. He actually had fashion sense, unlike Hank.</p><p>His arrival was timed for about ten minutes after Elijah’s parents arrived, as long as everything was going to plan. This accounted for the masses of last-minute Christmas shoppers that had taken to the streets, and he counted 53 jaywalkers on his journey across the city, suddenly glad that it was his usual day off. </p><p>He was suddenly worried that, if this went well, he’d be expected to attend Christmas dinner every year. There was no way he could get a certain date off every year. But then, Chloe made it sound like Elijah’s cousin didn’t attend most years due to work as well, so perhaps they’d be more lenient when they learnt about Connor’s work.</p><p>And that was another mystery: the cousin. He didn’t know Elijah had a cousin, and he liked to think he knew a lot of things about Elijah. Maybe they just didn’t get along well, like the rest of the family, and there was no reason to bring it up before. The lack of information he had about everyone involved, really, was putting him on edge. It was probably just the police officer in him overreacting, but he didn’t like situations with so many unknown-but-likely-negative variables.</p><p>---</p><p>It turned out that he didn’t have to worry much, because as Chloe predicted, Elijah’s parents completely ignored the three androids. Connor took great entertainment out of sitting as close to Elijah as possible, though, and answering whatever questions he could as if they were directed to him. The vein at Mr Kamski’s temple was 9% more visible now than it had been an hour ago, so it seemed to be working.</p><p>The doorbell rang just as North was laying the table, opting to help Chloe with the food rather than deal with the humans. He didn’t blame her, and he used the doorbell as an excuse to get a break from the insufferable couple as well, even if it was just for a moment.</p><p>“Merry Christmas, you must be-” he started as he pulled the door open. He cut himself off once his attention flicked from Elijah’s aunt to her son though, his jaw instead falling open in shock, mirrored clearly in the other man’s expression.</p><p>Elijah’s aunt took one look at the pair of them, rolled her eyes and pushed past Connor to get inside. She reminded him of Chloe. Hopefully that meant she was nice and just annoyed at her son’s antics, rather than rude.</p><p>They broke the silence at the same time. “I’m telling Chris,” Connor said, overlapping with Gavin’s own threat of “I’m telling Hank.”</p><p>Chloe came to find them after another three minutes and fourteen seconds of staring. It just- whatever this was, it was not making sense. Connor might’ve rebooted his optic units at one point out of pure disbelief. Gavin Reed, who at his worst was violently anti-android and at present was still very vocal about disliking whatever Cyberlife was up to (prosthetics and mechanical organs, Connor was fairly certain) was Elijah Kamski’s cousin. </p><p>He could tell Chris, who at present was almost violently <em> pro </em>-android, but the absurdness of the idea meant that he probably wouldn’t be believed even with photo evidence. Gavin, though, was very aware that Connor was single and very aware that Hank hated Elijah. They were friends, after all. Sort of. Connor was friends with Tina and Chris, who were friends with Gavin, so they mostly just hung out and pretended it wasn’t awkward.</p><p><em> “You knew about this, didn’t you?” </em>he messaged Chloe as she dragged them back into the house. </p><p>She wasn’t moved an inch by his glare, and instead just smirked as they rounded the corner into the main living area. <em> “Of course I knew, you complain about him often enough. I just wanted some entertainment too."</em></p><p>
  <em> “You’re no longer my second-best friend, I’m replacing you with Tina.”  </em>
</p><p>But he was already committed to the acting, and it was too late to back out now just because Gavin might spread a rumour about him dating a billionaire. So he schooled his features before sitting back down at the table and linked his fingers with Elijah’s, just as he’d done on the couch earlier. “Sorry for the delay! Gavin and I know each other from work, but I had no idea he was related to Elijah, so you can imagine it was a bit of a surprise.”</p><p>“Yeah- yeah, we work together on cases sometimes, but Connor never told me he was in a relationship, let alone who with,” Gavin replied. He seemed to have got the hint, that Elijah and Connor were up to something, so that was good. Maybe he’d actually buy Gavin a Christmas present this year.</p><p>“How did the two of you meet, then?” Elijah’s aunt - Jodie, his scans helpfully supplied - asked. Thank rA9, she was actually nice, addressing both Connor and Elijah with her question. </p><p>“We actually met through Chloe and North,” Connor answered. He let go of Elijah’s hand so that he could start taking some food, and he missed the warmth immediately, but even Connor had to admit that the dinner looked delicious. He knew Chloe was an amazing chef, but it seemed that North had some talent for it too. That would come in useful one day. “I help North with New Jericho’s security sometimes, Chloe and I started talking when North invited us both over for an evening and we quickly became friends. Then Chloe invited me here and, well, I’m sure you can guess the rest.”</p><p>Mr Kamski set his cutlery down loudly. It probably went unnoticed to the humans, but Connor could sense how tense his frame was. “So you’re still not leaving the house, then, Elijah?” he asked. Connor couldn’t tell if he looked angry or disappointed. Both, probably.</p><p>“No, Father, I have not left the house this year, because just like all of the past twelve years you’ve asked,” Elijah answered. One of his Brussels sprouts almost flew off the plate when he stabbed his fork at it. “If someone ever tried to kill you then I’m sure you’d feel the same, but you can rest easy knowing that you haven’t accomplished anything even close to important enough for that.”</p><p>The pot had been simmering all afternoon, and it finally boiled over. “Elijah!” his mother exclaimed. Chloe held her head in her hands, resting on the empty place setting. Gavin was still eating, but he was perched on the edge of his seat as if he was expecting to leave suddenly.</p><p>Elijah said nothing and carried on eating too, and eventually the rest of the family followed suit. There were some hesitant attempts to start a conversation, like asking Gavin how work was going, but they quickly petered out. Connor kept a hand on Elijah’s knee under the table, hoping that the contact would help him calm down.</p><p>Gavin volunteered to clear the table and roped Connor into helping. He thought about declining, not wanting to leave his best friend alone, but decided that would cause more drama than it was worth. </p><p>“Kiss him,” Gavin muttered while they stood in front of the sink, his voice low even though there was no one arround to overhear. “Maybe then they’ll finally fuck off. I don’t wanna be here when Uncle Michael figures out what model North is.”</p><p>“Would that be weird, though? You know we aren’t actually together,” Connor asked, scraping another half-empty plate into the garbage disposal. He didn’t want to overstep and make Elijah uncomfortable, not when the evening was already going so wrong.</p><p>“Look, you know damn well that you’re Elijah’s only friend besides his girls, so I’m gonna tell you some stuff I learnt when we were young adults and hope it still applies, okay?” Gavin said, and Connor nodded. This felt weirdly like a case briefing, but maybe that was a good thing, because cases were the one thing he knew how to navigate. “He’s not interested in all the relationship crap, not really, but he likes being close to people. Hugging, kissing, all that bullshit. So don’t make out with him or anything, but a quick kiss here and there won’t hurt him.”</p><p>A quick kiss. Connor could do that, probably. He didn’t exactly have any experience, but it didn’t look too hard, from the occasional romance movie he saw. Although he had a feeling that Gavin was talking about more than just Christmas dinner. “Thank you. Make sure they don’t bother him too much as they leave?”</p><p>“You got it.”</p><p>They walked back out into the living room, where everyone was still sitting in a stony silence. Connor took his place next to Elijah again, but rather than taking his hand, this time rested his palm against Elijah’s cheek. “Are you okay?” he whispered, and Chloe, the wonderful woman that she was, took that moment to start a loud conversation with Gavin. His friends were amazing. </p><p>“Yeah, I’m okay, I just- I just never know what to say these days,” Elijah replied, leaning into Connor’s hand. The worst part was that he didn’t even look upset - he’d resigned himself to this relationship with his parents.</p><p>“You’re a brilliant man, okay? I don’t care if you never set a foot farther than your backyard again, because the things you’ve done here are amazing. Don’t let them get to you.” He tilted Elijah’s face towards him and before he could chicken out (or ruin the mood), he leant forward, pressing his lips against his friend’s.</p><p>Elijah’s lips were dry, which wasn’t really a surprise, but it still felt different to how he was expecting. He didn’t know what he was expecting, really. Probably for it to feel the same as it did the few times he’d kissed Elijah’s cheek or forehead. But this was better. </p><p>It only lasted a second, because Connor made sure to pull away before he had to figure out how kissing worked. “Now, I don’t do that with just anyone, so you better believe you’re special,” he teased, and his mechanical heart soared when Elijah laughed for the first time that day.</p><p>“Your relatives don’t have to be your family,” Elijah said quietly, and Connor could tell it was something he’d been trying to convince himself of for a long time. “Thanks, Con.”</p><p>“Always.” The volume around him rose loud enough to ping his systems, but he paid it no attention, and he didn’t let Elijah look over at them either. Gavin pulled through on his promise and directed Elijah’s parents out of the house before they could say anything too disgusting. Screw them. They didn’t deserve Elijah’s company.</p><p>He pulled Elijah down until they were curled up on the couch together, just like so many other evenings. They were okay now. </p><p>The rest of the evening passed in a blur. Aunt Jodie turned out to be pretty cool, and North and Gavin was a terrifying idea, but he could see them becoming friends. And he might’ve asked Elijah for an old picture of him and Gavin, just maybe, so that he could send it to Chris. Chris, who’d probably keel over from excitement if he ever met Elijah in person.</p><p>Gavin took a photo of him and Elijah at one point too, and he expected it to end up in the same groupchat, but he started getting worried when it didn’t appear after a moment. He suddenly remembered the threats they’d made at the doorway, and it felt like he’d been dumped in a bucket of cold water. “No, you didn’t. Gavin Reed, please tell me you did not send that to my dad.”</p><p>“Sorry, kid, but if I’ve gotta deal with all of Chris’ android questions…” Gavin shrugged, tossing his phone back down onto the coffee table, just in time for Connor’s own to explode with messages. He didn’t even know Hank could type that fast. “Then you’ve gotta deal with questions about your boyfriend.”</p><p>“We’re not even dating!” Connor argued, forgetting that Aunt Jodie was still in the room. Guess the gig was up, but she seemed just as done with Elijah’s parents as the rest of the group, so he was confident she wouldn’t rat them out.</p><p>Elijah laughed, and the warmth breath against Connor’s collarbone quickly drove away the panic. Hank was his family, chosen rather than blood, so he’d just have to learn to deal with whatever Connor got up to. But maybe he should answer the phone in a minute, just so that he’d be allowed back into the house for Christmas. </p><p>“Dating is for losers anyway, there’s this whole- no, you know what, I’ll just message you the pages later. Too much explaining,” Elijah mumbled. He sounded sleepy, and Connor realised with surprise that it was already 9pm. </p><p>“And I think that’s our cue!” Aunt Jodie said, still with a spring in her step, somehow. She was definitely invited next year. “Merry Christmas to you all, I’m sure Gavin will see far more of you than me, but annoy him enough and he might pass my number along.”</p><p>Connor and Elijah said their goodbyes from the couch while Chloe did all the polite hostess things. Neither of them were particularly up to moving right now anyway. After a brief call with Hank he was permitted to stay the night too, which was even better. This was good, the couch was good enough to sleep on for one night, Elijah had certainly done worse.</p><p>Huh, maybe he was a little tired too.</p><p>“Merry Christmas, Elijah,” he whispered into the man’s hair, and Elijah replied in kind. Maybe the evening had started badly, but it had ended with him in one of his favourite places with one of his favourite people, so he couldn’t complain. “Sleep well.”</p><p>“Always do when you’re here,” Elijah said, and he tried to continue, but it trailed off into a light snore. The rest of the sentence didn’t really matter though - the first part was sweet enough.</p>
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